If you are observing meatless Fridays, here is an absolutely easy, delicious and healthy dish for you. I never feel like I am “abstaining†when I have a nice bowl of pasta, or a fillet of sole, or a broiled lobster for that matter, but I don’t make the rules on this Friday thing… To make, boil some water in a big pot and salt it generously (say ½ fistful of rock salt, yes a lot!). Drop some penne pasta into the boiling water. Heat up a large saucepan and add some good extra-virgin olive oil. When hot, throw in some small cherry tomatoes (in abundance at the markets these days) and toss until just bruised/wilted. Add the pasta cooked to al dente or “to the bite†and toss and turn off the flame. Add small cubes of fresh mozzarella and sprinkle with freshly chopped basil leaves. Add grated parmesan cheese if you want a second layer of cheesiness. Serve immediately with some freshly cracked black pepper. Few things are easier and as satisfying to make. The just-melting mozzarella is a perfect match for the warmed cherry or “grape” tomatoes and the fruity olive oil coated pasta. Yum and double yum. What kind of sacrifice is that? This is also good with the semi-dried tomatoes I like to make when there is a surplus of fresh ripe tomatoes…
12 Responses
“What kind of sacrifice is that?”
I think that all the time when we have lobster, prawns, crabs, etc on meatless Fridays. Go figure. Catholicism taken literally.
Greetings Marketman!
I discovered your site when I stumbled upon an article by Anne Jambora of the Philippine Daily Inquirer (April 14, 2005 issue page C1 of the Lifestyle section). You must be wondering why I visited just now. Well, I kept the article, forgot where I actually put it then I found it yesterday and thanks goodness I got your web address. Been reading your recent entries and everything is just tickling my taste buds. It is very stimulating reading your entries. I am a food lover myself. I cook once in a while but I am just an amateur cook who regularly watches cooking shows at the Lifestyle network, cut out recipes from foreign and local publications, own a few recipe books and download online recipes. That’s all I am, a food enthusiast of low stature. Thanks to your site I will be increasing my learning. I admire your intelligent and humorous writing! This site is truly a MARVELOUS and RARE find. Oh and I am also on a diet. I am completely avoiding refined carbs-anything white (potato, bread, rice, pasta, etc)- and sugar/sweets. Which is very difficult. It is a battle I have to struggle with everyday. Started exercising and dieting back in 2003 and I have lost over 40 lbs. But there are a few hiatuses here and there. Now, I’ve been bumming but I want to lose more weight. Sorry for straying from the topic. Anyway keep up the EXCELLENT work! Thank you for feeding our minds.
Sincerely,
Joan Teotico
P.S. Almost forgot, where do I purchase organic eggs? Are the conventional eggs dangerous to cosume? Because we never buy organic eggs. We do not know where to get them in the first place and since anything organic burns a hole in our pockets…oh well.
just a hello from me from france….
just been to the marche
oh lala indeed
Joan, welcome to Marketmanila and I am glad you are enjoying it… on your question, you can purchase organic eggs at several of the weekend markets such as Salcedo market, Taguig FTI, etc. and at specialty food shops such as Blue Kitchen, etc. They are rather pricey at close to PHP8 an egg. I like them primarily becuase they look, taste and feel like what I believe an ideal egg should…please see a post I did many months ago on organic eggs. However, I only buy them perhaps 10% of the time as they are expensive and I use them most when the egg in the recipe is critical…in ensaimadas, in creme brulee, in yema, etc. As a proportion of the total ingredient costs, eggs are usually a fraction but I do understand that they are rather pricey…
I make something almost exactly like that! Only I saute chopped garlic along with the tomatoes… I love garlic… but otherwise exactly the same.
Oh yummyness. I will try this!
penne is one of my fave pasta. :)
fried neurons I also use whole cloves of garlic on occassion in this recipe. Just brown slightly, dont burn and remove the cloves before proceeding with the recipe. You are right, it is good!
MM, I want to see recipes from the Missus…and the little MM… !!
joan, organic eggs are also available daily at Market Market in Fort Bonifacio, to the left of the outdoor food court if you enter from the parking lot.
nice homely recipe, MM. cherry tomatoes are key i reckon. and now i have another use for the danish feta i picked up at the grocery last month. gotta get rid of it before it goes off..
I was just thinking that if you have leftover roasted garlic (that rarely happens with me, but sometimes I roast a lot and then store the extra), you could just squeeze a few cloves with the tomatoes, or add directly to the pasta at the end.
Tried this last night. Yummy! Hardly anything ever goes right when I’m in the kitchen and though it took me two attempts (the first time I forgot to rinse the pasta so I had very salty pasta–a disaster), my husband-cook was very proud.